CRUCIBLE EVE!
The World Championship feels like a 17-days long Christmas for snooker fans in Sheffield. And even more this time, after we finally saw the end of the debate on whether the tournament would leave the Crucible Theatre after 2027, with the announcement that it's staying for good, until at least 2045 with an option to extend until 2050.
Personally, although I watch snooker all season I view the World Championship as something that "pops the bubble" of what snooker is as a sport. It's an event of a complete different magnitude compared to anything else we have all year, even the UK Championship and the Masters which are also on the BBC. There are many reasons for it: the long matches, the BBC extensive coverage for 17 days, Sheffield's buzz, the iconic venue, the money, and the title of World Champion in one of the most played sports around the World. It's just different.
And it's also true that the talks of a potential move out of Sheffield caused a big cloud over this event in the last few years - that's why we're all excited this time. Instead of fear, there's now even excitement over the prospect of where is the championship going to be played at for that one or two seasons when the revamp work will be underway at the Crucible.
And it's another very special tournament to me, as again I'll be taking the 6,000 miles trip to Sheffield to watch the event. I'll arrive in Sheffield on the final quarterfinals' day and stay until the final on bank holiday monday. Like in previous years, I will keep the website up to date as much as possible before coming back with an extensive blog after the tournament, reviewing the action on the table and my experience in Sheffield - for daily updates during my trip I suggest you follow us on Instagram!
Now, let's go through what to expect on the stage:
The Champion and his Curse
Often we hear that we're in for a very open championship, and it's true. We're in the middle of an era with very open World Championships, the last three events serving as great examples. But this time we have an outright favourite: Zhao Xintong.
And he deserves to be favourite, he won four tournaments this season, including all three Players Series events. He's not just winning either, he's crushing his top rivals: in the Tour Championship a couple weeks ago (the ranking tournament that precedes the World's) where he lost only 8 frames en route to the title, he beat John Higgins 10-1 in the semifinals and Judd Trump 10-3 in the final.
Zhao is no doubt playing the best snooker on tour right now, but can he beat the dreaded Crucible Curse? I'll make my call: I don't think so.
Walking in as a Champion of the World is very different to walking in as an "amateur" as he did last year, with no pressure knowing he'd be back on tour the following season after he had served his ban. I know he's having a great season, but note that it took some time for him to get used to it - after winning at the Crucible last year, he didn't make another semifinal until November.
And he didn't play great in the Chinese events as well. I know the World Championship is in England but make no mistake, Chinese media and fans will come in numbers to Sheffield this year and he'll be well aware of the attention that the World Championship has in China (even bigger this time).
Lastly, I don't act as if Xintong has just arrived on the scene and is already bringing snooker up a level. Four years before his dream Crucible run he won the UK Championship in 2021, his amateur status in last season's tournament was because he had lost his tour card due to a two-year ban for his part in snooker's biggest match-fixing scandal. The fact is that he's been around for a long time and although he caught his opponents by surprise last year, I think the field will be prepared for him this time.
Despite all my justifications, it's clear though that if Zhao Xintong plays his best snooker he's unstoppable at the minute, and if he can win his early round matches all that pressure for being the reigning champion can be neutralized. It would be good to see someone giving a good go at breaking the Crucible Curse. After all, it's been 24 years since a first-time champion made the one-table setup the following year.
Ronnie's chase of an Eighth and the Class of 92
Year on year we arrive in Sheffield and snooker's Class of 92 are still there contending for the championship.
Professionals for 33 seasons, Ronnie O'Sullivan (50), John Higgins (50) and Mark Williams (51) are once again amongst the favourites at the Crucible. Higgins made three big finals this season, Williams won a ranking tournament, and O'Sullivan keeps breaking records: made two 147's in a best of 11 match against Chris Wakelin in the semifinal of the Saudi Masters and then made the highest break in snooker history during an incredible 5-0 win over Ryan Day in the World Open quarterfinals - a 153 break that started with a free-ball (16-reds clearance).
The trio played an exhibition in Goffs last week alongside retired great Stephen Hendry. I did hear some point out that playing an exhibition this close to the World Championship couldn't be good (I particularly don't think it helps, with the bigger pockets and the different form of snooker that is played there), but at this point in their career I don't think it'll be the difference between winning and losing matches at the Crucible.
Anyway, it would be a monumental effort for any of them to come out victorious from the 17-days marathon. But while all three remain top contenders, it's still perfectly possible.
My Favourites
I had to make my picks. I know I won't be sticking my neck out with this and I have gone for him so many times I can't count now, but I think Mark Selby can do it again this year.
A generation now grew up watching Selby master the Crucible format: damage limitation in your inevitable weak sessions, while steamrolling the sessions when your scoring in on point. Selby had a great end to 2025 winning the Champion of Champions and the UK Championship back-to-back. And despite him "slowing down" in the last few months, his century tally this season (65) is only succeeded by Zhao Xintong.
The championship is unpredictable and a lot of it relies on being in your best state of mind, but when Selby has his scoring prowess together I just can't pick another favourite.
And now I've not sat on the fence, I want to make some other honourable mentions...
Judd Trump should be a very safe pick as well, no one is as consistent as the World Number One. Trump hasn't lost before the semifinals in a Triple Crown event for two years, and not before the quarterfinals for three years. This season, he made five finals and four semifinals. It's almost as if his tournaments don't start before the semifinal, he simply doesn't lose early. The only reason why he isn't my pick to win the tournament though, is because he hasn't been converting much of those semifinals and finals - despite all the numbers displayed here, he won one Triple Crown in the last three years and one tournament this season. But you just don't bet against him if he's in the semifinal lineup in a couple weeks time.
Kyren Wilson is also one to watch. After winning the Championship in 2024 and another four ranking titles to follow it the next season, this has been a "somewhat" quiet season for Wilson. But the form is there, he won the Shanghai Masters early this season and in January he added the Masters title to his Triple Crown CV. Lest we forget that when he won the world title in 2024 he was also arriving in Sheffield a little bit "under the radar".
There are also another two players I'd like to mention who we should keep an eye out for but I don't think they'll win it, for different reasons: Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson.
Murphy had a strong season, with one ranking title out of three finals. He's also been in the wrong end of some legendary performances (e.g. the 0-4 loss to Chang Bingyu in Wales when the latter had 100% pot success and four centuries). If there's been an issue on his illustrious career that's his consistency, but he's a four-times Crucible finalist and if he brings his best form to Sheffield he's a contender for sure.
As for Robertson, if his career has any issues that is not bringing his best form to the Crucible. He leads the one-year ranking list (mainly because of his £500k win in Saudi), but he has arrived in Sheffield as favourite many times before and not converted. His 2010 triumph remains his only final there, and he hasn't made the one-table setup for 12 years. Many times in the past we've said that Neil is due a second world title, and that still may happen (hence his mention here), but after such a long time it's difficult to think his record at the Crucible will ever get any better.
The Qualifiers
How tough are the qualifying rounds? They're a nightmare! If you're in that area of the rankings where you're fighting to be in the top 16 to avoid it, you have to do it at all costs. This year some incredible players couldn't make it to the Crucible: World #17 Stuart Bingham, World Number #18 and BetVictor Series Champion Jack Lisowski, World #20 and World Open Champion (w/147 in final vs Ronnie) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Crucible Champion from three years ago Luca Brecel, and young star Chang Bingyu are amongst the casualties of the last few days at the English Institute of Sport.
There are still some very nasty draws coming from the Qualifiers, though. The standout in my opinion is Zhang Anda (I actually make him favourite against Mark Allen in round one), but Ali Carter (drawn against John Higgins) and Jak Jones (drawn against Mark Selby) will definitely be heading to the Theatre of Dreams trying to make a deep run, too.
But the highlight of the Qualifiers to me was the young players coming through. The four debutants (Stan Moody, 18, Liam Pullen, 20, Antoni Kowalski, 22, and He Guoqiang, 25) did great so far. All of them got very hard draws for round one (Kyren Wilson, Chris Wakelin, Mark Williams and Ronnie O'Sullivan, respectively), but like I usually say about the debutants: you never know which one is a Crucible player in the making that could upset any seed!
And regardless of their results this year, it's great to see a new generation of players coming along. Especially from Europe, since we've been looking for them to stand up to all the amazing talent coming from China. The talent from the Far East will no doubt keep coming in numbers, but Europe (especially the UK) has a very good base for snooker, and particularly now that the World Championship is staying at the Crucible for at least another 20-25 years, global talent will definitely still be gathering in North England and that will help developing new talents in the West.
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